The Medical City’s Center for Kidney Health and Transplantation launched in National Kidney Month

Pasig City, Philippines—Leading tertiary medical services provider The Medical City (TMC) launched the Center for Kidney Health and Transplantation (CKHT) as its response to the increasing health problems brought about by kidney disease in the Philippines.

Dr. Roberto Tanchanco, M.D., Head of the Section of Department of Nephrology at TMC, said that kidney disease continues to be a heavy burden for patients and the society. He said that every year, more than 30,000 Filipinos develop end-stage renal disease that need either transplantation or dialysis.

Dr. Tanchanco likewise pointed out that dialysis procedures accounted for the most number of health claims filed with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. or PhilHealth in 2014. Since that year, dialysis remained to be among the top procedures with filed claims, with diabetes being the most common cause of end-stage renal disease, followed by hypertension.

“The Center shows our commitment to help reduce the rising incidence and burden of kidney disease. We set up the center where all the services pertinent to the delivery of high-quality renal service may be availed of by all our patients,” Dr. Tanchanco said during the launch of CKHT.

The Center, according to Dr. Tanchanco, is a collaborative effort led by the Adult Nephrology Section of the Department of Medicine, the Pediatric Nephrology Section of the Department of Pediatrics, and the Urology Section of the Department of Surgery. The team is composed of various health-care professionals that include, aside from nephrologists and urologists, fellows in training, residents, interns and clerks, dialysis nurses and technicians, nutritionists, pharmacists, and social workers.

“We proceed in the spirit of teamwork. We believe more things are accomplished when people from different fields bring together their expertise and perspective to achieve a common goal, which is to care for the health of patients at risk of, or already have, kidney disease,” Dr. Tanchanco emphasized in his speech.

“Kidney disease is a silent killer. Anyone can definitely get kidney disease anytime,” he added.

The Medical City has always been a pioneering and leading center for renal care in the country, founded by the late Dr. Filoteo Alano, also the founding president of the Philippine Society of Nephrology. Currently, TMC is the only medical facility in the country that automatically reports Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR), the test used to check how well the kidneys are working, based on the combination of Creatinine and Cystatin C, which is more accurate than GFR based on Creatinine alone.